Problem: What is the greatest common divisor of $2^{1998}-1$ and $2^{1989}-1$?
Explanation: Let $m = 2^{1998} - 1$ and $n = 2^{1989}-1$. Then, $2^9n = 2^9(2^{1989}-1) = 2^{1998} - 2^9 = m - (2^9 - 1)$. By the Euclidean algorithm, it follows that \begin{align*}
\text{gcd}\,(m,n) &= \text{gcd}\,(n,m-2^9n) \\
&= \text{gcd}\,(n,2^9-1). \\
\end{align*}Since $9$ divides $1998$, by the difference of odd powers factorization, it follows that $2^{1989}-1$ is divisible by $2^9 - 1$. Thus, the greatest common divisor of $m$ and $n$ is $2^9 - 1 = \boxed{511}$.